Life was good. For the first time in months, I had no book-related deadline worries. It was mid-August, and eight days had passed since I’d completed the second read-through of the final draft of Dust Bunnies & Dead Bodies and returned it to Rebecca, my editor at PageSpring Publishing. For a few bliss-filled days after that, I operated as if my part in this project was done. I had written the book, made all of Rebecca’s requested rewrites, proofread the manuscript from beginning to end four times, and sent it back to her to publish. It was out of my hands. Yay, I thought, from now until my book debuts in mid-October, I’ll just bask in the afterglow.

But alas, very quickly, reality reared its sensible head. Eight days after returning the final manuscript to Rebecca, I heard from Lynn, the marketing arm of PageSpring Publishing, with her promotion plan for my book. Bless her heart. She had set me up with five guest blogs to write, four author interviews, and eight reviews. … Reviews?!

I had to think about that. Did she mean reviews, as in people I had never met “critiquing” (i.e., ripping apart) a product of my blood, sweat and tears, my hopes and dreams, my heart, and not to mention my soul?

Exactly, she said. That’s what she meant.

What? Didn’t Lynn know that the only people who got to critique my book were the trusted members of my writers group and a few of my closest friends? Even then, I had asked for their feedback because I trusted them. When criticism was called for, they were kind. They were gentle. How could Lynn expect me to be excited about eight unknown reviewers? What would these strangers say? And what if they hated my book? Would they be diplomatic while they suggested I keep my day job? Or would they be mean? Would they laugh and poke fun at me like a bunch of schoolyard bullies?

My afterglow was suddenly displaced by doubts. What if my book is really crap and I’m too thick to see it? What if my friends who said they loved the book were just being nice? What if PageSpring Publishing had made a mistake when it offered me the contract? What if my Dust Bunnies are DOA? Clearly, I had shifted into panic mode. Fortunately, I had the good sense to confess my anxieties to a qualified professional.

“I was thinking today,” I wrote to Lynn in an email, “with all the reviews you've scheduled, what if my book gets horrible reviews? What if they hate it? I guess this qualifies as a panic attack. I hope you can make it all better.”

Well, of course, she made it all better. Lynn’s a polished pro, and she’s dealt with this sort of silliness before. Here’s what she wrote back:

You are totally normal. All authors go through the “What if my book sucks?” panic attack. First let me assure you, somewhere out there will be a reviewer who does not like your book. It happens to every author at some point. Everyone has different taste in reading material. So yes, there is a bad review in your future. (Know that if one out of ten readers hates your book, you are still batting higher than Stephen King, Lee Child, Amy Tan and about every other author in print.)

That being said, you have an interesting story, good characterization and talented writing. All the makings for a great book. So take a deep breath and relax. We receive hundreds of manuscripts. Out of those, we picked yours.

That means that a reader liked your book enough to pass you on to an intern, and the intern to an editor, and then the editor presented your manuscript at an editorial meeting. Last but not least, it came to me for a marketing critique. Then and only then was the decision made to offer you a contract.

You should know that, even though we are a fairly new publishing house, none of our books have lower than a 4-star rating on Amazon. In this industry, that is almost impossible. So we have a track record of picking good storytellers. And we picked you!

You will feel lots of ups and downs during the release of your novel, and you can email me with every one. I'll be here and I'll keep you grounded.

Lynn’s encouraging words were exactly the fix Dr. Friendly (you’ll have to read the book to find out who he is) ordered. Not only did she make me feel all better. She convinced me that my book is already a winner! Thanks again, Lynn!

I invite you to read the first chapter of Dust Bunnies and Dead Bodieshere on my website and to leave a comment (or your review!) below if you want. Or tell me how you overcame your own panic attack. DBDB’s coming-out date is October 15 and will be available on ﻿Amazon.com﻿ (pre-orders are already being accepted), Barnsandnoble.com and kobobooks.com. Please leave me a note here if you would like me to email you when DBDB is released or to reserve your copy.

Please keep the conversation flowing by ... • Visiting me on Facebook and Twitter • By leaving a note in the comments section below • Or by sharing the link to today’s blog — http://tinyurl.com/lbk3hoa — with your own Facebook friends and Twitter followers.

Reviewers. What an intimidating title. Sounds like the book Gestapo. Sounds like the know-it-all in high school who tries to make everyone else feel stupid. Sounds like the boss who gets his jollies from raising the bar. But really, reviewers have to be first and foremost readers, right? And we love readers. Plus, RE-VIEW means to look again, and I think everybody who reads Dust Bunnies and Dead Bodies will be going back to take a second look at the I've-actually-met-this-person characters and the situations we can chuckle at because it's not happening to us.
I think your book will get great reviews. And applause for Lynn who was gracious enough to remind you that this book is a winner.

Reply

Mary Louise Marlow

9/3/2014 10:55:54 pm

As one of your trusted writing group readers, I just wanted to assure you that WE WERE NOT BEING NICE when we raved about Dust Bunnies and Dead Bodies in all of its formative stages. We are nice when we want you to go to dinner, we are nice on a writers’ retreat weekend. Otherwise we are brutally honest as you have been with us. It has helped us all grow and change and make steps toward the writerly life! You have arrived. Come on with the reviewers; there is nothing to fear.

Thanks for sharing Lynn’s comments and Rebecca’s suggestions. Next time you feel in a panic, call me up and we will go shopping. Hooray for Crystal Cropper and the Elmwood gang!